Draft-equalizer.



L. E. WATERMAN.

DRAFT EQUALIZER.

APPLICATlON HLED APR.11, 1911.

1,170.,583 Patehted Feb. 8, 1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D c1 ma n snares LEWIS E. warnmaan, or ROCKFORD, ILIIIvoIs, assienon 'IO nnnnsoiv-snanrme- HAM COMPANY, or nooxronn, ILLINoIs, A. conronarron or ILLINOIS.

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mitoses.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEWIS E. VVATERMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draf*-Equalizers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to draft equalizers and has more particular reference to those used with agricultural machinery, especially;

with gang plows.

One of the primaryobjects of my invention is to provide improved draft equalizing means particularly adapted for a multihorse gang plow hitch wherein one horse walks in the furrow and the other horses walk on plowed ground, and whereinthe center of hitch on the gang plow isat one side of the center of the horses. This is desirable because the horses can not be hitched in alinement with the gang plow without having one of the horses walk ground.

Another ter for pulling obliquely to the line of draft of the gang plow to counteract the side thrust of the plow so as to effect easy draft of the implement. it

nether object is to provide a draftequalizer of' the foregoing character in which the evener-bar is connected through an offset draft member to rigid draft means pivotally mounted on a clevis, and to provide means for precluding said rigid draft means from swinging on its clevis' pivot to the side of the line of draft opposite the offset draft means, whereby the evener-bar may swing laterally to both sides of the line of draft and will swing laterally together with said rigid draft means upon the pivot thereof on the clevis toward the offset side of the equalizer means, whereby a very short and quick turn may be madeto this side to effect quick and easy turning of the plow at the corners of a field.

I also aim to provide a draft equalizer of improved design for lending simplicity to the construction and operation of the device and for permitting the device to be'manufactured at a low cost.

Referring to the drawings: F igurel is aplan view of my improved draft equalizer. Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of Fig. 1 showing the evener-bar angled'with respect to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 11, 1911.

trees 2 and 3 pivotally trees 2 plow or other implement in on the plowed object of my invention is to'prorespect thereto as will be afterward vide a draft equalizer of the above charac- I evener-bar draft-link Patented net. s, rare. Serial N 0- 620,419.

the line of draft; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line a a of Fig. 1.

y reference to the drawings it will be a multiehorse hitch 2 comprising doublemounted on the ends and pairs of swingletrees mounted on the doubleand 3, respectively.

A. clevis 6 may be connected to a gang any suitable manner, such as by means of a bolt connection 7 as shown in the drawings. An evener clevis in the form of a yoked bracket the arms of which are designated by the reference characters 8 is pivotally mounted at its closed end on the clevis 6 on a vertical axis through means of a bolt 9. The evener-bar is interposedbetween the arms 8 of the yoked bracket and is pivotally connected to said bracket in such manner that it maybe moved freely and angled with described. This pivotal connection comprises a pair of draft-links 14, pivotally connected at one end to the yoked bracket on studs 11 located forward of the bracket pivot 9 and pivotally connected at their opposite ends to the evener-bar centrally intermediate the ends thereof. A pair of links 13 pivotally connected at one end to the studs 12 on the yoked bracket, are pivotally connected at their opposite ends to an end portion of the evener-bar in such manner as to hold the pivot o'dset to one side of the yoked bracket as is clearly shown in of the evener-bar 4 and 5 pivotally Fig. 1. The yoked bracket is provided at its side opposite the draft-link l t and adj accnt to its pivoted end with a lateral extension or stop 15 adapted to abut against the clevis 6, as shown in Fig. 1, to preclude the yoked bracket from swinging toward the side of the line of draft opposite that of the offset draft connection.

When the draft is applied to the evenerbar the tendency is to swing the same later ally to aline the draft-links ll with the yoked bracket, which movement is precluded by the links 13, which hold the evener-bar in its offset position. Because of the oblique position of said draft-links let, the tendency of. the. draft will be to swing the yoked bracket to the right, viewing Fig. 1. on its pivot 9, which movement is precluded by the rarnnr orat on members will be as shown in Fig.1, wherein the center of hitch on the evener-bar is offset to one side of the center of hitch on the gang plow to properly position the horses with re- 7 V spect to the plowed land. Should the horses hitched to the swingletrees 5 outpull to a great degree those hitched to the swingletrees lthe result would be the swinging of the evener-bar in the manner shown in Fig. 2 until the links 13abut the stops 10 formed rigidly onthe bracket arms 8.

From the foregoing it is obvious that the evener-bar may swing laterally to both sides of the'yoked bracket upon the pivots 11 and '12. The evener-bar might be so moved when turning the horses toward either side of the line of draft, but whenmaking a right-angle turn to turn the gang plow at a corner of a field it is desirable that the evener-bar be swung quickly from a pivot close to the gang -plow in as great an are as possible in order thatthe gang plow maybe quickly and easilyturned. This is effected by the yoked bracket being pivoted to the clevis and swung bodily when making such a turn, the

stop 15 being withdrawn from the clevis 6, to give the evener-bar as large a range of swinging movement as possible.

I claim In a draft equalizer, the combination of 'an evener clevis pivotally mounted' so as to swing laterally with respect to an implement or vehicle to whichit may be attached and shaped at its forward end to form a yoke,

the arms of which are verjticallyspaced, an

evener-barinterposed between said arms so as to be slidingly movable therebetween, links pivotally mounted on the evener clevis, extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions and being so pivotally connected to the evener bar as to maintain the same offset laterally to one sideof the evener clevis and permit the evener bar to swing laterally on its evener clevis pivots, guided at alltimes between the yoke arms of the clevis, and an abutment member rigid with the evener clevis and arranged to so abut against a part fixed with respect thereto as to prevent swingingof the evener clevis to the side, of the medial line of the load opposite from that to which the evener bar is offset, whereby a relatively close hitch is obtained and the links are relieved of the weight of the evener 'bar and its draft attachments by reason of A. O. BEHEL, E. l). E. N. BEHEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. I I 1 

